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Post-Vulgate (charts)
The ''Post-Vulgate charts'' that follow list events in the prose Arthurian romances from Gaheriet’s slaying of his mother to just before the Pentecost feast when the quest for the Holy Grail begins. The prose Arthurian romances in intention are mostly imagined by their authors to be in approximate continuity with one another, all supposedly only extracts from a large Latin book kept at the almeries of Salisbury. In fact they are not so. The Vulgate Merlin and the Post-Vulgate Merlin very much do not agree with one another. Comments in the Prose Tristan to synchronize it with the Prose Lancelot do not agree with one another. The Tavola Ritonda is very much in disagreement. But from the beginning of the Folie Lancelot events can be mostly placed in a single continuity. Discrepancies in chronology mostly affect only the time in which events occur, not their order. Disagreements between the two are rare, the most notable being V.II having Perceval first come to court before the death of his brother Lamorat. But that seems to be a simple error. The Prose Lancelot makes the time between Lancelot running off mad to Lancelot’s return to court be about five years. Some references in V.I of the Prose Tristan refer to Tristan in the same period being imprisoned for four years, then being effective ruler to Cornwall for a fifth year, before journeying to Britain and meeting Lancelot. But the Post-Vulgate Folie Lancelot clearly changes the chronology to have Lancelot away from court for ten years. V.I of the Prose Tristan also inconsistently refers to this later chronology. But the order of events is not necessarily in contradiction in the different texts and it is the order of events that has been used to create the tables. The sole exception is in the matter of the Tournament of Louveserp where the tournament has been inserted in the wrong place in the Prose Tristan V.I. See discussion in the table in the section entitled Preparations for the Grail Quest. The story of Lancelot, Tristan, Yseult, and Guenevere living for a time together under the guardianship of the Lady of the Lake as found only in the Tavola Ritonda has here been placed somewhat arbitrarily as a climax to Tristan’s final adventures before the Grail quest Abbreviations Individual Events of the Past Presuming that Alexandre’s father, Mark’s brother, is the Pernehan whom Mark killed at the time Tristan was born, Alexandre ought to be just a little younger than Tristan, which properly puts his tale early, making the mention of Mordred in it a chronological error. The tournament in Sorelois takes place during Arthur’s marriage to the false Guenevere. Malory invents his own explanation of why Guenevere is with Galeholt and why Arthur is not at the tourney. Since Dinadan was still a new knight when he first met Tristan, he should not appear in this tournament. Lamorat and Gaheriet Imprisonment of Tristan It is uncertain whether the following should be imagined to happen before or during the war in Gaul. Malory and Löseth in MS. 99 present a version which is chronologically impossible in the larger continuity. Arthur Conquers Gaul Lancelot’s Madness Slaying of Driant and Lamorat Early Adventures of Perceval Tristan is Rescued from Prison Perceval’s Quest for Lancelot Tristan and Yseult’s Journey to Logres in the Ship of Joy and Some Later Encounters The Last Adventures of Tristan in Logres Before Announcement of the Grail Quest Preparations for the Grail Quest The Prose Tristan, V.I, relates Arthur’s announcement of the festival in which the quest of the Grail will begin, and follows this with some Tristan adventures which relate chronologically to this short period between Tristan receiving the announcement and his departure to attend the court. But instead of Tirstan coming to court, then follows the story of the tournament of Louveserp, which begins with Tristan still at Joyous Gard. Some time after the tournament comes a repeat of Arthur’s announcement and Tristan sets out for court, again. There is obviously duplication in the manuscripts. Therefore in the table the two announcements are equated and the events of the Tournament of Louveserp have been placed in the previous table before the announcement. The results are far more sensible. Further Charts for Prose Arthurian Romances Charts containing earlier details in the lives of Tristan and Yseult as told in the prose romances appear in: Prose Tristan (charts) Charts containing information in later romances will appear in: Quest of the Holy Grail (charts) Death of Arthur (charts) Category:Charts